What is Andrographolide?

Andrographolide is a naturally occurring labdane type diterpenoid, a two-ring fused bicyclic structure with a side chain modified to contain a lactone ring.

The healing properties of andrographolide extract have been known since ancient times from Chinese folk medicine by the use of leaves of creat also known as the “king of bitters”

Due to its structure, it has been proved that andrographolide benefits a wide variety of biological activities like:

• anti-inflammatory
• anticancer
• cardiovascular-protective
• antimicrobial
• neuroprotective
• and many more

Anti-inflammatory properties of andrographolide

In the past decade or two, scientists have identified that andrographolide can mediate anti-inflammatory aspects in various diseases. 

Recent studies have shown, that andrographolide is able to relieve the lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory response via Nrf2 activation preventing bovine infertility, and leading to losses in the cattle industry.

Interestingly andrographolide was able to reduce inflammation in mice that had monosodium urate-induced arthritis.

In the tests, whereas a cancer treatment was used 5-fluorouracil, and andrographolide showed the ability to counteract the effects of weight loss and diarrhea by lowering the protein expression associated with inflammations.

Andrographolide against cancer

It is known, that current anticancer treatment is highly toxic and causes a lot of side effects. Therefore, scientists have turned their attention to natural compounds like andrographolide that might possess anti-cancer properties simultaneously expressing other beneficial effects.

Several scientific research has shown andrographolides anticancer ability to reduce the activity of various cancers like colon, lung, breast, hepatoma, renal, and more.

Literature showed that andrographolide significantly can inhibit the proliferation of human colon cancer by changing mitochondrial membrane potential, as well as inducing apoptosis by nuclear condensation.

In malignant glioma cells, U-87 M andrographolide was able to induce the expression of apoptosis-related proteins like caspase-3, BAX, and more.

Cardiovascular protection

Andrographolide has shown the ability to help your cardiovascular system in various ways.

Scientists showed that in the treatment of H9c2 cardiomyocytes and diabetic cardiomyopathy C57/BL6j J mice, andrographolide resulted in dose-dependent inhibition of cardiac inflammation and oxidative stress, followed by the reduction of cardiac apoptosis.

Positive aspects were identified for subjects exposed to high-fat diets, where andrographolide showed a significant effect to decrease cardiac injury by such diet.

Moreover, chronic inflammations, dyslipidemia, and oxidative stress are the main cause of atherosclerosis. Andrographolide has been identified to reduce oxidative stress, prevent reactive-oxygen species formation, and more, reduce the risks of blood vessel clogging.

For the protection of various organs

Researchers have identified that andrographolide is able to protect various organs like the liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, and more.

In the liver, andrographolide supplements showed inhibition of profibrotic and proinflammatory factor expression, hence, helping the liver do its main job – detoxifying our body. Such effect has been achieved via various molecular pathways like inhibiting the transforming growth factor-β and more.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a kind of lung disease characterized by fibroblast proliferation followed by inflammatory injury and tissue structure destruction. Scientists found that andrographolide was able to inhibit TFG-β1 induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition, hence, it may be a treatment for pulmonary fibrosis.

In conclusion

Being a natural diterpenoid andrographolide might show some similarities with natural hormones that we have in our bodies. It possesses a wide variety of biological activity like anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, and even more that has not been overlooked in this small review. If you wish to participate in the development of new possibilities of andrographolide, visit our store.